May 14, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBUQUERQUE—New Mexico’s unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund—which pays benefits to the unemployed—should be rebounding at this point in an economic recovery. It’s not and that is due in part to a decrease in the rates employers pay into the fund. That’s according to a new report, “The Need to Strengthen New Mexico’s Unemployment Trust Fund,” from the NM Fiscal Policy Project, a program of NM Voices for Children.

“It’s normal for the UI trust fund balance to plunge during a recession when it is paying out increased benefits because unemployment is high,” said Gerry Bradley, Research Director for the child advocacy group and the report author. “Unemployment has been leveling out, but the fund balance continues to drop. This will pose a serious problem when the next recession hits and the fund is unable to do its job—which is to keep a recession from becoming a full-blown depression.”

UI benefit payments began to decline in 2011 in part because unemployment rates had begun to fall, but also because benefits for parents and students were cut. At the same time, the rates that employers were paying into the fund were also cut.

“This rate cut for employers essentially came at the expense of children, college students, and other beneficiaries,” Bradley said. “Even though the economy is slowly improving, New Mexico’s working families are still struggling and this is no time to poke holes in the safety net.”

Unemployment insurance helps keep a recession from getting worse because it injects money into the economy via consumer spending. Without it, recessions would be deeper and last longer. The benefits help workers who have been laid off feed their families and pay their bills until they can find another job.

The report also notes that the majority of New Mexico’s UI beneficiaries have been young Hispanic males. “Construction jobs took the biggest hit in this recession and a large percentage of workers in that sector are young Hispanic males,” said Bradley. “Unfortunately, even given a full recovery, construction employment will not return to pre-recession levels for a very long time.”

The report is available online here: http://www.nmvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/UI-trust-fund-report-5-12.pdf 

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New Mexico Voices for Children is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advocating for policies to improve the health and well-being of New Mexico’s children, families and communities.
2340 Alamo SE, Suite 120, Albuquerque, NM 87106-3523; 505-244-9505 (p); www.nmvoices.org

Download this press release here (pdf)

New Mexico Voices for Children can’t answer those questions for you and, as a nonprofit organization, we can’t endorse candidates. But we can suggest some issues and encourage you to discuss them with candidates.  Here are a few questions we hope you’ll ask candidates this election cycle:

• What will you do to assure that our youngest children (ages 0-5) get high quality early learning opportunities?
• What will you do to assure that all of our children get a good education?
• What will you do to assure that the Affordable Care Act is aggressively implemented in New Mexico so everyone has access to quality affordable health care, and the high cost of health care is reduced for our small businesses?
• What will you do to assure that fairness and accountability are restored to our tax system, and that big corporations and the wealthiest pay their fair share?

We also urge you to ask candidates about the issues that are most important to you and your family.  If you like what they stand for, consider volunteering to help them get elected.  This is one of the best ways we can take back our democracy from the influence of big money! 

Here are a few other things you can do to help NM Voices make a difference in this important election year:

• Sign up for eVoices—our email updates and legislative alerts.
• Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay informed on the issues important to New Mexico’s children and families.
• Donate to NM Voices for Children so we can do more to educate candidates and elected officials about the unmet needs of children and families.
• Consider hosting a VOICES House Party and invite your friends to learn more about the issues and how we can all make New Mexico a better place for our kids. (To host a party, contact Alicia Manzano at 505-244-9505 x 20 or amanzano@nmvoices.org.)

And most important of all, don’t forget to register and VOTE! The primary election is June 5 and the general election is November 6. For voter registration and election information, visit the Secretary of State’s website. 

Like it or not, we’re in for a makeover. Let’s make sure that after November 6, we look more like the beautiful democracy we were meant to be.

Bill Jordan in NM Voices’ Policy Director.

ALBUQUERQUE—Veronica C. Garcia, Ed.D., has been hired to serve as Executive Director of New Mexico Voices for Children. Dr. Garcia is best known for her tenure as the state’s first Cabinet Secretary of Education. Along with advocating for the passage of the New Mexico’s Pre-K Act, she pushed for funding for programs like school-based health clinics, breakfast in the schools, elementary physical education, and extended school year programs like Kindergarten Plus; under her tenure she worked to build an infrastructure for a strong system of accountability, pushed for rigorous academic standards which were recognized nationally, as well as advocated for the passage of the Hispanic Education Act.

Her work as Secretary garnered the National Governor’s Association Award for Excellence in State Government. Her decades of work within the state’s K-12 education system ranged from teaching in the classroom to principal, regional superintendent in the Albuquerque Public Schools, to serving as associate superintendent and superintendent of the Santa Fe Public Schools. She has received numerous awards and recognitions including: New Mexico Superintendent of the Year and the Life Time Achievement Award in Education from Hispanic Magazine.

“Our Board of Directors is excited to welcome Dr. Garcia as our new Executive Director,” said Joseph Maestas, Board Chair. “Veronica was chosen from among a stellar group of candidates. Her vast experience and dynamic leadership will help New Mexico Voices to continue operating as the preeminent child advocacy organization in New Mexico.”

“I’m very excited to be joining New Mexico Voices,” said Dr. Garcia. “Advocating on behalf of under-served and under-represented children has been a life-long passion and has driven my work throughout my career. I believe in NM Voices’ mission of working to eradicate poverty and to support policies that ensure that children and their families have an improved quality of life be it through access to a quality education, affordable health care, or civic engagement. If we accomplish these things we help improve the quality of life and economic condition for all New Mexicans. I also understand, from my own life experience, what kinds of support systems are needed to help children become contributing citizens. I’ve always believed that education is a social justice issue,” she added. 

Dr. Garcia, who is currently President and CEO of Comprehensive Consulting Services, LLC, is slated to begin at NM Voices in June.

Using an evidence-based approach, New Mexico Voices for Children works with local, state, and national officials to shape and implement public policies that are supportive of children and working families. The group’s areas of focus are early childhood care and education, health care for all, and family economic security.

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New Mexico Voices for Children is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advocating for policies to improve the health and well-being of New Mexico’s children, families and communities.

2340 Alamo SE, Suite 120, Albuquerque, NM 87106-3523; 505-244-9505 (p); www.nmvoices.org

Download this press release here (pdf)

It is my great honor to inform you that Veronica C. Garcia, Ed.D., has been hired to lead New Mexico Voices for Children as its new executive director. Veronica was chosen from among a stellar group of candidates and brings extraordinary skills and unique experience to this job as well as a deeply held passion for improving the lives of New Mexico’s children and families.

Dr. Garcia began her lifetime of service to children as a classroom teacher, eventually working her way into leadership roles first as a principal, regional superintendent in the Albuquerque Public Schools, then associate superintendent and superintendent of the Santa Fe Public Schools. In 2003 she was tapped to serve as the state’s first Cabinet Secretary of Education. During her tenure as Secretary she advocated for the creation of the state’s pre-kindergarten program as well as the Hispanic Education Act, among other initiatives.

Dr. Garcia also has a personal understanding about the importance of public policy in changing lives. In her cover letter, she wrote eloquently about the “social services, public assistance, and programs of the Great Society under Lyndon B. Johnson, such as the National Defense Student Loan/Grant program, that enabled me to attend college.” She credits her life experience as teaching her that education is a social justice issue.

Dr. Garcia brings a deep commitment to improving the health and well-being of New Mexico’s children and families, and a strong belief in our mission and the core values that undergird all of our work.

The staff and Board of NM Voices look forward to working with Veronica, and I believe you will find her a smart, passionate, and dedicated advocate for children.

Sincerely,

Joseph Maestas
Board Chair

In contrast, Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal — A Road Map for America’s Prosperity — which debuted last month, calls for lower taxes for the rich and big corporations, whose tax rates are already the lowest they’ve been in 50 years. Ryan’s proposal calls for reducing the top income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, a reduction that would benefit the top 2 percent the most.

A report recently released by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that people with incomes above $1 million would receive an average annual benefit of $265,000 from the Ryan tax cuts alone — not counting what they would also receive from the budget’s plan to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. Middle-income taxpayers — those with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 — would receive $1,045, on average. The report explains that the best gauge of the distributional impact of a tax cut is the percentage changes that it causes in the after-tax incomes of households at different income levels. A progressive tax cut raises after-tax incomes by a greater percentage among lower- and middle-income people than among higher-income people.  A regressive tax cut provides a larger percentage of after-tax income gain at the top of the income scale and thereby widens income inequality.

Both budget proposals claim to balance the federal budget within 10 years, however, a new report released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that while Ryan’s budget reduces the deficit over the short term, it increases it over the long term. The CPC’s budget does the opposite.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Ryan’s budget proposal would also essentially repeal the Affordable Care Act, (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”), which will extend health insurance millions of Americans. It would also cut programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that serve the most vulnerable among us.

What we need is a balanced approach that requires higher-income earners and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes while protecting the social safety net and other discretionary programs. The CPC budget preserves the safety net, protects the middle class, and invests heavily in job creation measures. Ryan’s budget gives more tax breaks to the rich and big corporations. The Ryan budget, which was passed by the House but has not been voted on in the Senate, has also received wide media coverage. The CPC budget, which will not likely be brought up for a vote, has received almost no media coverage.

Kwaku Sraha is NM Voices’ Finance Manager.

New Mexico does have 33 counties, and many do reflect the situations described above, according to the 2012 County Health Rankings (CHR), released today (www.countyhealthrankings.org) by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The CHR provides us with a check-up on the current health status of each of our counties and is one of several web-based, easily accessed tools that can help people see where their communities are doing well and where improvement may be needed. (More web-based tools are listed at the end of this piece.)

Why are these data sites needed?  Where we live, work, play, learn, and interact with others influences our overall health and well-being. These factors also greatly impact how successful our children will be in school. Early environmental, social, economic, and health factors—positive and negative—help shape the rest of a child’s life. Safe communities with ready access to high-quality prenatal and early child care services, schools, health care facilities, libraries, and playgrounds, as well as those offering solid career opportunities, good air quality, and low levels of poverty, are supportive environments in which to raise healthy children with hopes for a solid future.

 While the CHR allows us to compare counties to each other on key indicators, this isn’t the most important aspect of these data. Rather, the data can be used by community members and leaders to highlight either community assets to brag about or shortcomings to be dealt with. When the barriers to family health and well-being are identified, community members can work together to find constructive solutions that will improve the quality of life for everyone.

Diverse communities across the country are making progress in connecting these data to action.  For example, residents have rallied in a neighborhood in Detroit with high crime and poverty and few healthy food outlets. Residents began youth mentoring and community garden programs, are restoring vacant properties to attract new business, and are helping families prevent foreclosure.  To improve the health of neighborhoods in Columbia, MO, a local coalition is advocating policy change to improve the public transit system, a key factor in helping low-income workers get to their job, doctor, or the grocery store.  

The County Health Rankings is also linked to another program, the County Health Roadmaps, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which helps communities mobilize and take action to create healthier places. In New Mexico, the Connecting Data to Action program (a Roadmaps to Health project) works with communities throughout the state to help them advocate for policies that will create, fund, and sustain a high-quality, universally accessible continuum of early childhood care, health, and education services. Such policies will enable all children in the state to have equal opportunities to be prepared and ready for school, and as such, for long-term academic, health, and economic success and well-being.    

For more web-based data, see the KIDS COUNT Data Center (http://datacenter.kidscount.org/nm) and the NM Community Data Collaborative Public Maps Gallery (http://berncohealthcouncil.org/public-maps-gallery/index.html).

Christine Hollis oversees Connecting Data to Action and New Mexico KIDS COUNT—both programs of New Mexico Voices for Children. Email Christine at chollis@nmvoices.org to request a Connecting Data to Action presentation with CHR data in your community.

ALBUQUERQUE—New Mexico Voices for Children released the following statement about Governor Martinez’s veto of SB 9.

“Governor Martinez has said that she did not support closing a tax loophole for out-of-state corporations because she did not want to ‘pick winners and losers.’ But by vetoing SB 9 she has done just that, making winners out of big corporations that can continue to game our tax system,” said Bill Jordan, Policy Director for the child advocacy group.

“New Mexico’s small businesses lose out when corporate special interests get preferential treatment. We’ve long supported closing this tax loophole because it puts New Mexico businesses at a competitive disadvantage. New Mexico businesses pay taxes on their profits and those taxes support the infrastructure and services all businesses rely upon—roads, education, police and fire protection, and more. It’s not fair that big corporations can avoid paying for them too.

“SB 9 would have helped level the playing field for New Mexico’s small businesses and would have made us more competitive with all the other Western states that have closed this loophole.

“As advocates for our families, we’re disappointed to see the Governor side with big corporations that aren’t willing to support the communities where they make their profits—especially at the expense of small business,” Jordan said.

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New Mexico Voices for Children is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advocating for policies to improve the health and well-being of New Mexico’s children, families and communities. 2340 Alamo SE, Suite 120, Albuquerque, NM 87106-3523; 505-244-9505 (p); www.nmvoices.org

Download this press release here (pdf)

Remember the March madness of two years ago when the law was passed? Remember the cries of “death panels,” “rationing of health care,” “the end of private insurance,” “the government is moving in between you and your doctor.”

Here’s what I see happening from where I sit:

• Millions more young adults have health care because they can now be covered under their parents insurance until age 26.
• Another 17 million children cannot be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition.
• More than 90 million children and adults have already had screenings and preventive care without co-pays or cost-sharing. They no longer have to put off these doctors visits because they can’t afford it. Not only is the government not between you and your doctor, but government has removed much of the bureaucracy and cost that once were the real barriers between you and your doctor.
• Seniors have saved billions in prescription drug costs because the law closes the ‘donut’ hole.
• More than 4 million small businesses can now claim tax credits for providing health coverage to their employees. That not only helps to provide needed health care for employees, but also helps those small businesses be more competitive.
• The increase in health care costs is now slowing—years before the supporters of the bill thought it would.

What I don’t see are death panels, rationing, or any of the other hysterical claims of those who opposed the law. But since we’re all susceptible to March madness, perhaps we missed it. So please point it out to us! As blogger John McDonough of the Boston Globe recently wrote, it’s time for all the naysayers and doomsday fortune-tellers to step up and make their case before the American people. He ends his post with these words: “All those claiming that older Americans are going to get denied treatment by ‘death panels,’ all those who claim that health care under the ACA will be ‘rationed’ and denied to needy Americans, now is your time to put up or shut up.

“General complaints and theoretical belly-aching won’t do. Let’s meet real Americans whose health and health care are getting harmed by the ACA. Now.

“No excuses, no delays. Put up or shut up.”

Please send your personal stories about death panels, rationed care, or how the government has gotten between you and your doctor as a result of the ACA to info@nmvoices.org.

Bill Jordan is NM Voices’ Policy Director

Since both of the Journal pieces omit important facts, I wanted to give everyone all the pertinent background information on this issue.

Last summer, Eric Griego announced his decision to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Eric expressed his desire to continue to serve NM Voices as executive director—something he had been doing very effectively for the past four years. The Board decided—and Eric agreed—that the organization would be best served if Eric resigned. He did so in October of 2011.

After careful consideration, the Board decided that a small severance payment (which equaled three months of Eric’s salary) was appropriate. Severance payments for an executive-level position are quite common in the nonprofit world, more so when a Board and executive agree that a separation is in the best interest of the nonprofit organization.

Because Eric is running for congressional office, there was some concern that a severance payment might be considered a campaign contribution. As NM Voices is a nonprofit with a 501(c)3 designation from the IRS, any electioneering—including endorsing a candidate or making contributions to an election campaign—is strictly prohibited by law. After consulting with our attorney, the Board determined that we would seek a ruling from the Federal Election Commission on whether the severance pay in question constitutes a campaign contribution under federal election campaign laws.

The FEC ruled in early February 2012 that the severance pay did not constitute a campaign contribution. You can read the FEC’s opinion here.

As the Board deliberated on its decision, we were mindful that we were setting precedence, so we weighed the issues very carefully. We were also mindful that NM Voices does not have endless financial resources. Above all, we wished our decision to be transparent, to avoid any appearance of impropriety, and to reflect the organization’s core values. We believe we succeeded and that our decision was the right one.

Looking forward, our search for a new executive director is near completion. The field of candidates has been narrowed to a few who will be interviewed shortly by both the Board and staff. We hope to name Eric’s replacement by mid March.

We thank you for your patience and understanding during this time of great change in our organization. Your support—both as contributors and fellow advocates—is essential to our work. That work, which is carried out by an extremely skilled, dedicated, and professional staff, continues with as much commitment as ever.

Joseph Maestas is Chair of the New Mexico Voices for Children’s Board of Directors.

A whopping 90 percent of the small business owners surveyed nationally said that large corporations use loopholes to avoid paying taxes that the small businesses pay. They also view this as a problem, saying it harms their business.

When it comes to corporate tax loopholes, New Mexico has a doozy. What’s more, New Mexico is the only state in the western U.S. that allows multi-state corporations to have this particular advantage over its home-grown businesses. And that is shameful.

Multi-state corporations use the loophole to shelter their New Mexico profits in a state that does not collect corporate income tax (Delaware is the big favorite). Then when they file their New Mexico tax returns they can claim they simply didn’t make much here in the Land of Enchantment. Meanwhile, companies that do business only in New Mexico (hint: collectively, they are the largest employer in the state) are paying taxes on their profits.

Attempts have been made over the last several legislative sessions to close this unfair loophole—in fact Senator Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) has introduced such legislation (SB-9) again this year even though Governor Martinez has threatened to veto it. The Governor has said she doesn’t support closing this loophole because she doesn’t want to “pick winners and losers.” The existence of the loophole itself picks winners and losers and, sadly, the winners here are not New Mexico’s small businesses.

To be fair, Governor Richardson wasn’t supportive of closing this loophole either. Legislation to fix it has always met extreme resistance at the Roundhouse—namely in the form of corporate lobbyists who are looking out for their client’s best interests and throwing expensive parties for your lawmakers. While the executive and legislative branches have been failing us, though, the courts have been doing their job.

New Mexico’s Taxation and Revenue Department has taken a number of these corporate loophole-exploiters to court—most famously Wal-Mart—and won judgments against them. And the giants have paid up. So what’s the problem, you ask? The problem is, this is an expensive, inefficient, and time-consuming way to collect the income taxes that are rightly due to the state in the first place. And the folks at the TRD and in the courts certainly have better things to do than clean up a mess the Legislature and Governor refuse to touch.

Don’t laugh this off as some moral “fairness” issue—although it is. It’s also a very practical issue. All businesses need certain infrastructure and services in order to operate. They need roadways, an educated workforce, police and fire protection, and a court system to enforce their contracts. Since they all need this infrastructure, they should all pay for it. New Mexico’s small businesses are already at a disadvantage when it comes to competing with big corporations. They lack the buying power to get the best prices on everything from raw materials to health insurance. This loophole puts them at a further disadvantage. While they’re chipping in to keep the roads paved and the first responders at the ready, the big guys are getting a free ride. If that’s not an example of “winners and losers” then what is?

Alicia Manzano is NM Voices’ Outreach Director